In The Rocky Beds Of The Streams Basalt Is Almost
Always Found, And It Is A Step In This Rock Which Forms The
Cascade Already Described.
From it the limestone precipices rise
abruptly; and in ascending the little stairway along the side of
the fall,
You step two or three times from tpe of rock on to
the other - the limestone dry and rough, being worn by the water
and rains into sharp ridges and honeycombed holes - the basalt
moist, even, and worn smooth and slippery by the passage of bare-
footed pedestrians. The solubility of the limestone by rain-water
is well seen in the little blocks and peaks which rise thickly
through the soil of the alluvial plains as you approach the
mountains. They are all skittle-shaped, larger in the middle than
at the base, the greatest diameter occurring at the height to
which the country is flooded in the wet season, and thence
decreasing regularly to the ground. Many of them overhang
considerably, and some of the slenderer pillars appear to stand
upon a point. When the rock is less solid it becomes curiously
honeycombed by the rains of successive winters, and I noticed
some masses reduced to a complete network of stone through which
light could be seen in every direction.
From these mountains to the sea extends a perfectly flat alluvial
plain, with no indication that water would accumulate at a great
depth beneath it, yet the authorities at Macassar have spent much
money in boring a well a thousand feet deep in hope of getting a
supply of water like that obtained by the Artesian wells in the
London and Paris basins. It is not to be wondered at that the
attempt was unsuccessful.
Returning to my forest hut, I continued my daily search after
birds and insects. The weather, however, became dreadfully hot and
dry, every drop of water disappearing from the pools and rock-
holes, and with it the insects which frequented them. Only one
group remained unaffected by the intense drought; the Diptera, or
two-winged flies, continued as plentifully as ever, and on these I
was almost compelled to concentrate my attention for a week or
two, by which means I increased my collection of that Order to
about two hundred species. I also continued to obtain a few new
birds, among which were two or three kinds of small hawks and
falcons, a beautiful brush-tongued paroquet, Trichoglossus
ornatus, and a rare black and white crow, Corvus advena.
At length, about the middle of October, after several gloomy days,
down came a deluge of rain which continued to fall almost every
afternoon, showing that the early part of the wet season had
commenced. I hoped now to get a good harvest of insects, and in
some respects I was not disappointed. Beetles became much more
numerous, and under a thick bed of leaves that had accumulated on
some rocks by the side of a forest stream, I found an abundance
of Carbidae, a family generally scarce in the tropics. The
butterflies, however, disappeared. Two of my servants were attacked
with fever, dysentery, and swelled feet, just at the time that
the third had left me, and for some days they both lay groaning
in the house. When they got a little better I was attacked
myself, and as my stores were nearly finished and everything was
getting very damp, I was obliged to prepare for my return to
Macassar, especially as the strong westerly winds would render
the passage in a small open boat disagreeable, if not dangerous.
Since the rains began, numbers of huge millipedes, as thick as
one's finger and eight or ten inches long, crawled about
everywhere - in the paths, on trees, about the house - and one
morning when I got up I even found one in my bed! They were
generally of a dull lead colour or of a deep brick red, and were
very nasty-looking things to be coming everywhere in one's way,
although quite harmless. Snakes too began to show themselves. I
killed two of a very abundant species - big-headed, and of a bright
green colour, which lie coiled up on leaves and shrubs and can
scarcely be seen until one is close upon them. Brown snakes got
into my net while beating among dead leaves for insects, and made
me rather cautious about inserting my hand until I knew what kind
of game I had captured. The fields and meadows which had been
parched and sterile, now became suddenly covered with fine long
grass; the river-bed where I had so many times walked over
burning rocks, was now a deep and rapid stream; and numbers of
herbaceous plants and shrubs were everywhere springing up and
bursting into flower. I found plenty of new insects, and if I had
had a good, roomy, water-and-wind-proof house, I should perhaps
have stayed during the wet season, as I feel sure many things can
then be obtained which are to be found at no other time. With my
summer hut, however, this was impossible. During the heavy rains
a fine drizzly mist penetrated into every part of it, and I began
to have the greatest difficulty in keeping my specimens dry.
Early in November I returned to Macassar, and having packed up my
collections, started in the Dutch mail steamer for Amboyna and
Ternate. Leaving this part of my journey for the present, I will
in the next chapter conclude my account of Celebes, by describing
the extreme northern part of the island which I visited two years
later.
CHAPTER XVII.
CELEBES.
(MENADO. JUNE TO SEPTEMBER, 1859.)
IT was after my residence at Timor-Coupang that I visited the
northeastern extremity of Celebes, touching Banda, Amboyna, and
Ternate on my way. I reached Menado on the 10th of June, 1859,
and was very kindly received by Mr. Tower, an Englishman, but a
very old resident in Menado, where he carries on a general
business.
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